Presented is an extremely attractive, exceptionally high-quality near-complete master set (94 of 136) of E121 American Caramel "Series of 80." This collection ranks first on the PSA Set Registry All-Time Finest list with a 4.38 average grade. This is an outstanding collecting achievement since a complete set of this issue is almost unheard of and the checklist remains a work in progress with new additions being made and questions surrounding the actual existence of certain subjects. Like other large caramel-card sets from this era, collecting this issue is a challenge: A set must be collected and cannot often be purchased complete or near-complete. The early 1920s American Caramel sets are known for their incredible representation of stars, and this E121 set is no exception as nearly one-third (forty-two) of the required subjects are Hall of Famers. This group contains thirty-one different Hall of Fame cards, including four of the six cards depicting Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth.

A considerable amount time and energy is invested in any set-building attempt, but this particular set poses numerous challenges as PSA has graded only an average of nine examples for each card in this set. The average is naturally skewed by the higher occurrence of Hall of Famers, which means that it is even tougher to find PSA-graded commons, especially in the relatively high grades presented in this set. PSA Condition Report: NM+ 7.5 (1 card): McInnis. NM 7 (3 cards): Baker (HOF, highest graded), Lavan, and Wingo. EX-MT 6 (15 cards): Cobb/Manager (HOF), E. Collins (MK, HOF), Gardner, Graney, Holke, Hornsby (HOF, highest graded), Jacobson, Kelly (HOF, highest graded), Killefer, Maranville (HOF), McGraw (HOF), Schupp/correct, Speaker/Mgr. Large (HOF, highest graded), Vitt, and Wood. EX+ 5.5 (2 cards): Stock and Terry. EX 5 (30 cards): Alexander (HOF), Bagby, Bancroft/bat (HOF, highest graded), Bodie, Burns, Bush, Dauss, Deal/white, Evers/Mgr. (HOF), Faber/dark (HOF, highest graded), Faber/white (HOF), Gowdy, Hooper (HOF, highest graded), Johnston, Kerr, Mays, O. Miller, Morton, Myers, Peckinbaugh, Pfeffer/St. Louis, Rice (HOF), Schang, Scott, Sisler/throw (HOF), Speaker/Manager Large (HOF, highest graded), Strunk, Toney/trees, Toney/no trees, and Whitted. VG-EX+ 4.5 (4 cards): Burns, Johnson/chest (HOF, highest graded), Roush/C.F. (HOF), and Wheat (HOF). VG-EX 4 (23 cards): Bancroft/leaping (MK, HOF),Carey/bat (HOF), Daubert, Deal/dark, Doak, Donovan, Griffith, Hollacher, Jennings (HOF), Judge, Kilduff, Leibold, Mamaux, Milan, O'Neill, Rixey (HOF), Schalk (HOF), Severeid, Thomas, Tyler, Vaughn/white, Wambsganss, and Young. VG 3 (8 cards): Groh, Pipp, "Babe" Ruth (HOF, very presentable, perfectly centered with even corner wear and minor wrinkling visible), George Ruth (HOF, extremely attractive with perfect image quality and a small crease visible on the reverse, downgraded due to a slight front miscut in which part of the next card is faintly visible thus creating centering technically outside the standard for a higher grade), Smith (MK), Vaughn/dark, Veach/glove in air, and Williams. GOOD 2 (5 cards): Carey/hands at hips (HOF), Cobb/Mgr. (HOF), Evers/Manager (HOF), Foster, and Murphy. PR-FR 1 (2 cards): Heilman (HOF) and Lewis (MK). Authentic (1 card): Roth. It is possible that this set is even closer to completion than suggested by published checklists as the existence of nine subjects is questioned based on years of documentation and research within the hobby. This research has also documented two back variations, the more common "leading" on the second line and the rarer "of the leading." This set features four of the rarer variation, including Hall of Famer Rabbit Maranville. This is an extremely impressive collection with numerous highlights, and a collection that would be a significant addition to virtually any advanced world-class vintage-card collection. The total SMR value for this collection (factoring the seven half-grades at the lower whole grade level and excluding the one Authentic and four qualified cards) is $20,104. Total: 94 cards. Reserve $5,000. Estimate $10,000++.SOLD FOR $20,145.00

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